15 July, 2012

Steam Summer Sale and From Dust

written by Blain Newport on Saturday, 14 July, 2012

The Steam Summer Sale is on. To make sure people don't miss the daily sales, each sale runs 36 hours, which means there are two lists of daily deals. Plus there are "flash sales" that last for 12 hours and occur at somewhat irregular intervals. Plus there is a community choice deal where users vote on one of three deals that will last for eight hours. It's more than I want to keep track of.

It's partly the structure of the sale. It's partly that I've played so much that I've become jaded. And it's partly that I'm working ten hour days and don't have much time for games or gaming. I don't care how cheap Skyrim gets. I'm never going to have the time.

The one thing I've snagged out of the summer sale is From Dust. I knew it was probably a mistake, but Eric Chahi made some strange and cool games, so I figured $3.74 was just a small tip for previous works.

It's fairly pretty. You can use lava to build bridges in water, or water to put out fires or make plants grow in arid soil. It's intuitive.

And when your villagers are thriving they turn your islands into tribal used car lots, which is amusing.

But the game chugs at a painfully slow frame rate which makes wielding amazing godlike power feel like doing chores. And the mechanics the game has added thus far have only added busywork, not entertainment. If I remember, I'll give the game another try when I buy my next computer. But it's more likely that I just threw a little money away.